It's been five years since graduation and the girls have moved in different directions but remain just as close. Hanna is living in New York with Caleb while working as a Fashion Design Assistant, Spencer is living with Toby and working at her mother's law firm in Philadelphia, Aria is working at a publishing company in Boston with Ezra while working on publishing their first novel together, while Emily and Alison bought the DiLaurentis house and were both working at Rosewood High as teachers; Emily was coaching the Sharks Swim Team and Alison was teaching English.
Alison was taking advantage of a lazy Sunday morning while lounging on the couch waiting for Emily to finish making coffee. It had become a routine every weekend for Sunday to be their day to just relax and spend time together.
Alison's POV
Over the years, Sunday has become my favorite day of the week. I know for most, Sunday is hated almost as much as Monday because it signifies that the weekend is coming to a close but for me it means an uninterrupted day with Emily. We started this tradition back in college when we were living in our small apartment near Danby; we knew that with classes and Emily's swim schedule that it would be hard to find time for just the two of us so we made sure that at least once a week we did nothing but be together. It has always been a day for us to just sit together, enjoy coffee, lounge in our pajamas, and watch old movies. If you would've told me that six years ago this is what my life would look like, I would've told you that you were crazy even though this is how I always pictured my life playing out.
As I reminisce on mine and Emily's relationship, I can't help but smile. Emily enters the room carrying my favorite mug full of coffee, "here you go." How did I ever get so lucky to be able to wake up to that face every day? I look up to her and smile as my hand brushes hers while taking the mug from her hands, "thank you. I'm sorry for all of the tossing and turning last night." She leans back and tosses her hair, "considering we watched a scary movie last night, it's amazing either one of us got any sleep." I shake my head as I place my coffee mug down on the table to let it cool off, "I don't know what possessed us to watch 'It' but it was probably the worst idea we've ever had; I already hated clowns to begin with but I don't think I will be able to walk past a storm drain ever again." Emily laughs and puts her mug down as well, "I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a red balloon the same again after that. " I lay my head back on the couch and scoot down a little bit to get more comfortable and Emily looks at me with that gaze that makes my stomach flip and my heart rate rise, "you look so beautiful in the morning, even after a night of tossing and turning. I don't know what I did to get so lucky," she says as she brushes my hair back and leans in to kiss me. Her lips still taste like coffee which combined with Emily's already delicious lips that I cannot get enough of, it's intoxicating. Emily begins to push me back on the couch and lays on top of me while never breaking the kiss. It still amazes me that after all these years, she can still make me weak within seconds. She makes her way to my neck and I can't help but let a moan escape my lips, "Em... bedroom... now." She removes her lips from my neck and whisks me to our bedroom for what I know will be hours of being tangled up in the sheets. Yup... Sunday is my favorite day.
Emily's POV
I swear, I live for Sunday's. There is nothing better than just lounging around the house with Ali; she's always my favorite version of her when it's just the two of us and she's got no makeup on and still manages to be a knock-out. After hours spent in bed with each other, we've made our way back to the living room to watch old black and white movies; Alison is currently sleeping on my chest with my arms wrapped around her and a blanket draped over us. I honestly don't know how life could get much better than this... well... I do and it's been on my mind a lot lately. Ali and I have been together for six amazing years now, we've got great jobs, and we own our own home; the next step would be to make this thing official. Ever since we were teenagers I always pictured myself marrying Ali and I can't shake the feeling lately that I want to officially ask her to be my wife. I mean, we're practically married already without the piece of paper but I want her to share my last name. I've been thinking a lot lately how I would ask her, I've even talked to Hanna about it which may have been a bad move considering that she sucks at keeping secrets like this. You would think after years of having to keep being tormented by A a secret that she would be a pro by now but noooo, when it comes to exciting secrets like this she will blab to anyone who will listen. On my way home from work the other day, since there was a swim meet and Ali had left earlier than me, I stopped at a jewelry store to look at engagement rings. Ali had mentioned a couple of times the type of ring that she would want and of course it would be a princess cut. I just keep trying to rack my brain around how I am going to keep this from her if I end up buying one since we share a bank account. Maybe I should go to Spencer, she was always the best at surprises.
Alison's POV
I've been awake for a few minutes and I can feel Emily tensing up because she's thinking about something. It must be something big for her to be stressing out this much, little does she know that I've been stressing out for the past few days with a secret that I can't wait to not have to bear anymore. Emily and I celebrated our six year anniversary last week and I would have gone through with it then but I felt like I wanted it to be more spontaneous and unexpected. So, today... I'm going to ask Emily to marry me. I know that she's been dropping hints about her asking me with asking what type of ring I would want but I want to be the one to ask her. I was the reason that Emily doubted who she was when we were teenagers and I broke her heart over and over up until I decided I was done hiding so I want to be the one to ask her to marry me. I know she knows that I love her and that I would do anything for her but I feel like this is something that I need to do. A few days ago when Emily had a swim meet, I went to see Wayne to ask his permission to marry Emily and let me tell you how nerve racking that was, I don't think I've ever been so scared in my entire life.
Flashback
Today is the day that I am going to ask Wayne for his permission to marry Emily... I can't believe this is actually happening. I've had this speech prepared for months and I don't think I have ever been more nervous. I know Wayne has been like a second father to me and that he loves Emily and I together but he could pull a wildcard and tell me no, that he doesn't think it's the right time for us. If he says no, I don't know what I will do.
I've been standing at the Fields' front door for about five minutes now, but I have to make sure that I am home before Emily's swim meet is over so I take a deep breath and knock. Pam answers the door and is a little surprised to see just me, "Alison! What a pleasant surprise!" I smile and try not to let it show that my hands are shaking, "Hi Mrs. Fields, it's good to see you." She leans in to hug me, "Honey, I think you can call me Pam after all these years. Please come in." I step into the Fields' living room and take a deep breath, "Ok... Pam. I was wondering if I could talk to you and Mr. Fields about something? It's kind of important." She smiles at me like she already knows what this is about, I swear nothing gets past Pam Fields, "of course sweetie. Let me go get him." A few minutes later, Mr. Fields makes his way downstairs with his wife in tow. What I'm about to do just got a little more real even though I am pretty sure Pam already told him why she thinks I'm here. He greets me with a hug, "Alison, it's always nice to see you. Does Emmy know you're here?" I smile at the use of Emily's childhood nickname, "No, sir. She's still at her swim meet so I thought I would take advantage of it. Do you think we could go sit down?" I take a seat across from what I hope will be my future in-laws and Mr. Fields is the first to speak, "so, what did you want to talk to us about?" I grasp my hands together to keep from shaking and try to calm myself down before I speak, "well, sir, Emily and I have been together for quite a while now and I think that I've kept my promise of always being there for her and I wanted to be able to continue keeping that promise for the rest of our lives. I was hoping that I could get your blessing to marry your daughter." I look into his eyes and I swear I can see tears forming before he chooses to speak, "I had a feeling that's what this was about. You know, in the beginning when you told me that the two of you had begun dating, I was happy to see Emmy happy but I still had my reservations. Over the years you have proven to both of us that you love Emmy unconditionally and that you continue to choose each other and put each other first without hesitation. I can't think of a better person to love my daughter than you, Alison. Of course, you have my blessing to marry Emmy. In fact, when Pam had come to tell me that you wanted to talk to the two of us about something, I made sure to grab something before coming downstairs." Wayne reaches into his pocket and pulls out a red velvet ring box and I can feel tears start to spill over my cheeks, "this was my mother's engagement ring and it would mean a lot to me if you would use this to propose to Emmy." He hands me the ring box and open it slowly; I look into his eyes and find my voice, "I know she always wanted this ring. She said she would spend hours as a little girl just staring at it and imagining who would be the person to place it on her finger one day. It means the world to me that you trust me not only with something so important but also with your daughter's heart. I will always be here for her, I will keep my promise and I will love your daughter for the rest of my life. Thank you, sir." He smiles and stands to open his arms for a hug, "no, thank you, for loving Emmy. Her heart always belonged to you."
A smile finds its way to my face as I remember her dad's words, now I just have to find a way to get her outside. I sit up and leave a chaste kiss on her lips and she looks at me a smiles, "good morning, sleepyhead." I smile and decide to present an idea to her and pray she takes the bait, "do you think we could go for a walk today? It's so nice outside." Emily looks at me with adoration, "of course! You know I'm always down for a walk. Let's go get changed and we can head out." We make our way back to our bedroom and change into leggings, t-shirts and running shoes. I make sure that when I grab my t-shirt that I also grab Emily's ring. I chose to wear a baggy t-shirt so that when I tuck her ring into the waistband of my leggings, she won't be able to tell. I look in the mirror to put my hair up and I get a glimpse of Emily as she is putting her muscle tank on and I am amazed that this woman has chosen to let me love her for so long. She feels me staring and she sends a smile and a wink my way; my heart does a flip and I can't wait much longer to ask her to be mine. She gets up and makes her way over to me and tries to place her hands on my hips but to make sure that she doesn't feel the ring box, I turn around in her arms, "where would you like to go?" I look back to her, "how about we just start on the trail behind the house and we'll see how far we get." She nods and smiles as we make our way out of the bedroom. Emily makes sure to grab her keys and our phones as we exit the house and we start our way down the trail. We both know that we're going to have to pass the Kissing Rock and I am trying not to walk too fast; Emily's hand finds its way into mine as we fall into step. I'm trying not to let her know that I'm freaking out but I don't think I'm doing a good job because she looks at me with a concerned look, "are you ok, Ali? I can feel your heartbeat in your fingers." I smile, "yeah, I'm ok. It's probably just from the walking." As we get closer to the the Kissing Rock, Emily smiles and looks at me, "do you want to take a break at our spot? It only seems right that we take a minute to sit and enjoy being here again, we haven't been back for a while." I smile, "of course! We really haven't. I don't think we've been back here since that sleepover with the girls."
We take a seat on the rock and I realize that this is the moment, this is it. I'm about to ask Emily to marry me. Here goes nothing, "Em, you know that I'm always here for you right?" She looks at me worried, "what? Of course I do. Is everything ok?" I smile and take her hand in mine, "yes, everything is fine. Everything is great, actually. There is something that has been on my mind for a while now that I want to say to you. You have to promise that you'll let me get this out, ok?" She nods her head and I take a breath, "when I was at my most lonely and unhappy and angry place, you loved me. When I was an ugly human being, you saw a beautiful soul. You make the world a better place because you see the good in it and you make a better woman because you searched for one. Do you promise to do that every day, for the rest of our lives?" Emily has tears in her eyes and nods her head barely able to find her words, "yes." I take that as my cue and take a knee in front of her, "Emily Catherine Fields, will you marry me?" I pull the ring from my waistband and open the box, we're both crying at this point, she looks from the ring to my eyes, "yes!" I pull the ring from the box and place it on her finger and in almost a whisper I tell her, "I love you." She looks back and me and with more excitement, "I love you too!" She pulls me in for a kiss and then into a tight hug. She said yes... Emily said yes.
As we pull apart, I take my seat next to her again. She looks at her ring and then back up to me, "this is my grandmother's ring. You knew that I always wanted this ring. Thank you for remembering." I take her left and in mine and place a kiss on her ring finger, "of course I remembered."
"You know, I was thinking of proposing within the next couple of weeks. You had to beat me to it," Emily says with a laugh.
"I knew you were dropping hints about proposing when you started to ask what type of ring I wanted but I felt like this was something that I needed to do. In the beginning of our relationship or even before we were officially together, you were always the one who made the big gestures. You kissed me first, you took us on our first date, you asked me to prom, you asked me to move in with you... it was only right that I made a gesture of my own. I know that I put you through hell when we were younger and I wanted you to know that I want to love you for the rest of my life. You, Emily Fields, are the love of my life."
Emily's POV
I can't believe Ali just asked me to marry her! I know I was planning on proposing but as long as I know that we're officially doing this thing, I don't care who asked.
"Ali, I know exactly how you feel about me. You show me everyday in what may seem like the smallest ways by you making me breakfast every morning, you open doors for me, you hold my hand when we're walking, you kiss me on the forehead each night when you think I'm asleep. You continue to love me each and every day and I don't even remember the old you from when we were younger; you erased that pain when you chose to let me love you and you trusted me with your heart. I hope that I do the same for you and I will spend the rest of our lives showing you how much I love you. You are also the love of my life," she takes my hand in hers and smiles. I stare into those ocean blue eyes that have captivated me for years, "I can't wait to be your wife." I lean forward and capture her lips in mine for a kiss that seems to last for hours.